Letters

Cens-ational

Dear Alibi,

[Re: News Feature, “Keeping the Faith—In Science,” Feb. 14-20] Both Simon McCormack and New Mexicans for Science and Reasoning’s evangelists seem to be somewhat confused about a lot of things. First, NMSR has not “infuriated” creationists--at least not the one writing this letter. With respect to their vapid attacks on Creation Science, I consider NMSR to be a bunch of censors. If the organization and its members were not so effective at playing the censor, NMSR would be a mere entertaining sideshow.

NMSR’s president and chief evangelist Dave Thomas’ paraphrased assertion that science makes people uncomfortable is baseless. Science is defined as knowledge, as systematic knowledge, and as knowledge about the physical world. Why should knowledge make anyone uncomfortable? The Darwinists (believers in biological evolution) who inhabit NMSR certainly cling to their ideologies that they descended from monkeys, or from some type of simian ancestor. When creationists come along and present facts that conflict with those ideologies--for instance, that in the beginning man was created by God--instead of adjusting their ideologies, the NMSR Darwinists ignore or discard the facts.

Thomas finally invokes skepticism and claims it is a tool used to “figure out the boundaries of science.” Speaking broadly, this is probably true. Skepticism is an attitude of doubt toward an idea, and one can have doubts about how much science can prove and about the location of its boundaries. However that may be, we may be certain of one thing--Dave Thomas and his NMSR co-religionists have no doubt that they, all mankind, and the entire universe and everything in it arose by purely natural processes.

Steven DapraAlbuquerque

Boycott Bodies

Dear Alibi,

I, along with many other Health Sciences Students at UNM, am extremely disappointed with the Alibi's choice to include the Bodies Human Exhibit in your Alibi Picks selection last week [Re: “Temporary Morgue,” Feb. 20-March 5]. We take the use of human cadavers for education very seriously and we go to significant lengths to ensure we have informed consent from all donors who choose to give their bodies to science and education. Lynx Industries, the El Paso company that is organizing this particular show, has repeatedly refused to provide evidence that the bodies on display were obtained ethically from consenting donors.

The students collectively feel that without detailed documentation and proof of informed consent from all donors, no cadaver should be used for either education or for-profit entertainment. Only people who freely and willingly choose to donate their bodies to science, education or exhibition should have their bodies used for such purposes after they die. Neither the potential greed of black-market cadaver traders nor the inability of poor and homeless people to avoid them should deny anyone the right of dignity in death.

We therefore request that people boycott the Bodies Human Exhibit (and request refunds if they have already bought tickets) until its organizers can demonstrate proof that all of the bodies were ethically obtained. We similarly request that the management of Coronado Center refuse to provide space for such a potentially unethical (but profitable?) event. Lastly, we request that the City of Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico join several other cities and states banning the exhibition of human remains without documentation of consent and ethical procurement.

We do encourage people to attend other exhibits that can document proof of consent from all donors, such as Body Worlds, organized by Dr. Gunther von Hagens. This show, unlike Bodies Human here at an Albuquerque shopping mall, is exhibited at science and natural history museums around the world.

Due to the fact that the people on display are ethnically Chinese, along with Mainland China's well-documented record of human rights violations and execution of political prisoners, we feel Lynx Industries should go to extensive lengths to ensure all of the human beings on display willingly gave their bodies to this exhibition.

Lynx Industries states they buy their plasticized human remains from Corcoran Laboratories, Inc., a Bay City, Mich., company that was recently featured in a “20/20” exposé. Since the airing of that show, their website (www.cor-labs.com) has been under construction.

Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Dear Alibi,

[Re: Letters, “Mad Shooters,” Feb. 28-March 5] I have to wonder what weapons of mass destruction you refer to. Guns are not a weapon of mass destruction. Otherwise, several people would be killed with one shot, but in most cases with these shootings, it doesn't even come close to one person being killed per shot.

As for the "cowardly politicians" protecting Second Amendment rights, no. It's the cowardly politicians who are trying to eliminate or severely restrict these rights. You see, the founders of this nation did not trust a government that would not trust its people. They wrote this amendment with the assumption that the majority of people are good, not bad. If a few people in the crowd at one of these massacres had guns, what do you think would happen? The massacre would be very short-lived. Why do you think there are no massacres at a shooting range?

As for motive, let's look at some recent news about the man who shot up a church and missionary training center. Family recently spoke of how he felt depressed and rejected ... and they say he gave no signs he was so close to exploding. One has to wonder what kind of sign they were expecting. A big flashing, neon sign that says "future killer," perhaps?

Don't blame guns, video games or entertainment. Blame the killer first ... then you can blame people who don't look past their own noses to see when someone needs help and friendship.

taibhse_fiachcomment on alibi.com

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